Packaging bag with pour spout

ABSTRACT

To make opening of a pour spout easier and two positively prevent inadvertent tearing for a packaging bag with pour spout which has a tube attached in the pour spout. 
     A packaging bag  1  with pour spout wherein a flow path  11  in the pour spout  10  established in the top of a packaging bag  1  is partitioned off by sealed regions  5   a   , 7  made by sealing two films  2, 3,  a tube  12  is attached in side of the flow path  11  of the pour spout  10,  and opening guide line  14  which guides opening in a direction which intersects with the flow path  11  of the pour spout  10  is formed in one of the side seal regions  7  of the pour spout  10,  and the seal region  5   a  on the other side which is opposite to the side of the pour spout  10  has a plurality of cut lines  16, 16,  which pass through the seal region  5   a  of the two films  2, 3,  and are positioned in line in relation to the ending region  14   g  of the opening guide line  14.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.60/762,758 filed on Jan. 27, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a packaging bag with pour spout whichhas a tube attached in the pour spout.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In recent years, when small quantities of content, such detergent orfabric softener or the like, stored in a main container such as aplastic bottle are removed and used, the main container is not disposedwhen the content of the main container is used up, but rather newcontents are refilled, and the main container is reused. Packaging bagswith pour spouts which have a pour spout at the top of the packaging bagare used as packaging bags for storing refilling contents.

With this type of packaging bag with pour spout, the pour spout can beopened by cutting the leading end side of the pour spout, and then thecontents are poured from the open pour spout into the main container inorder to refill the content. In order to enable simple opening bytearing open the packaging bag by hand without using tools such asscissors, packaging bags are commonly known which have a notch or cutinto the side of the pour spout to form a starting point for a cut line,or a half cut groove or the like which is formed beforehand across theflow path.

For instance, with the pouch with pour spout shown in Patent Reference1, a pour spout formed in the upper corner region is enclosed by athermal adhesive region, a notch is formed on the side of the thermaladhesive region, and a tear stopper formed from a punch hole or a roundincision is formed at the end of the expected tear line which extends inthe lateral direction from the notch.

Furthermore, with the packaging bag shown in Patent Reference 2, a pourspout is not established, but a top and bottom pair of half cut groovesare formed across the whole width of the packaging bag, and a tear linewhich is formed with a notch formed in the side region of the packagingbag as a starting point is guided by either the top or bottom half cutgroove. With the packaging bag of the Patent Reference 2, notches areformed in both sides of the packaging bag so that the packaging bag canbe opened from either the left or right side, but regardless of whichnotch the packaging bag is opened from, the tear line is guided by thehalf cut groove, and after the tear line reaches the half cut groove, astraight-line opening region will be formed along the half cut groove(Refer to paragraph 0025 of Patent Reference 2).

-   Patent Reference 1 Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No.    2000-281090-   Patent Reference 2 Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No.    2002-104437

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Resolved by the Invention

Incidentally, in order to prevent flattening of the pour spout and toenable smooth pouring of contents, a tube is attached inside of the pourspout in order to mutually separate the front and back films. In thiscase, the pour spout is bulged along the outer shape of the tube.

With this type of pour spout with tube, the tearing line for the openingstarting at the notch may be curved by the bulge along the tube andsufficiently controlling the direction of the tearing line is difficult.In particular, if the tear lines on the front and back of the packagingbag are staggered so as to not be in a mutually overlapping condition(condition shown in FIG. 3( a). So-called “staggered tearing”), thetearing force will be dispersed and the force for tearing the openingregion will stop when the seal region of the end region side of the tearline is reached, and tearing of the seal region may be difficult.

If the region to the leading edge side of the opening region of the pourspout is left remaining, this region will contact with the mouth of thebottle during refilling so the opening region of the pour spout will bemade narrow and be impeded, so the region on the leading end side of theopening region is preferably completely removed. Furthermore, if thisregion cannot be removed while the leading end region of the pour spoutis remaining as described above, stopgap measures are usually taken,such as leaving the leading edge region hanging down from the openingregion, or bending the leading edge region over to the outside so thatthe surface is overlapping onto the back surface film.

Furthermore, for the case where a half cut groove is formed to transectthe pour spout, if the film is bulged along the outer dimension of thetube, the half cut groove will be deformed and opened to have a V shapedcross-section, adjacent packaging bags can easily come in contact, andas a result, the half cut groove of the packaging bag after filling mayinadvertently be broken open during transportation or storage or thelike.

With the foregoing in mind, an object of the present invention is toprovide a packaging bag with pour spout which has a tube attached in thepour spout, and to enable simple opening of the pour spout andpositively prevent inadvertent tearing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the present inventionprovides a packaging bag with pour spout wherein a flow path in the pourspout established in the top of a packaging bag is partitioned off bysealed regions made by sealing two films, a tube is attached inside ofthe flow path of the pour spout, and opening guide line which guidesopening in a direction which intersects with the flow path of the pourspout is formed in one of the side seal regions of the pour spout, andthe seal region on the other side which is opposite to the side of thepour spout has a plurality of cut lines which pass through the sealregion of the two films and are positioned in line in relation to theending region of the opening guide line.

With this type of packaging bag with pour spout, preferably the pourspout is formed in the corner region of the packaging bag, the flow pathof the pour spout angles toward the top of the packaging bag, theopening guide line begins from the top side of the packaging bag, theopening guide line extends at an upward angle along the flow path, thenchanges direction in a curved region, and the ending region of theopening guide line extends parallel to the bottom side of the packagingbag toward the outside of the packaging bag.

The cut lines are preferably cut by a Thomson blade.

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

With the packaging bag with pour spout of the present invention, aplurality of cut lines formed in a line pass through the seal region ofthe side where the opening guide line is formed as well as on theopposite side, so even if “staggered tearing” occurs on the tearing linewhich is formed with the opening guide line as a starting point, thevarious tearing lines will be able to reach any one of the plurality ofcut lines in the ending region side of the opening region. Furthermore,the cut lines pass through both of the films in the seal region, so bothfilms can easily be separated between the cut line where the tearingline on one film side has reached and the cut line where the tearingline on the other side of film has reached. Therefore, the seal regionon the ending side of the tearing line can easily be torn, and theregion on the leading end side of the pour spout opening region canpositively be removed. Of course the time required for opening can alsobe shortened. Furthermore, the opening region can be widely opened bycompletely removing the leading edge region of the pour spout, sorefilling productivity can be dramatically improved.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention will be described below based on preferredembodiments while referring to the drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1( a) and (b), the packaging bag with pour spout 1 ofthis embodiment (hereinafter simply referred to as “packaging bag”) is astanding pouch comprising two main body films 2, 3 which have the sameflat pattern, and a bottom film 4 which is folded in half with foldingline 4 a as the centerline. The bottom film 4 is folded over so that thefolding line 4 a is facing inward, and is placed between the bottomparts of the pair of main body films 2, 3.

Side edge seal regions 5 a, 5 b are formed on both side edges of thepackaging bag 1. In the part of the side edge seal regions 5 a, 5 babove the bottom film 4, both of the side edge regions of the main bodyfilms 2, 3 are heat sealed together, and in the lower area where thebottom film 4 is positioned between the main body films 2, 3, both ofthe side edge regions of the main body films 2, 3 are heat sealed toboth of the side edges of the bottom film 4.

Furthermore, bottom seal region 6 is formed in the bottom region of thepackaging bag 1 by heat sealing the bottom edge regions of mutuallyopposing surfaces of the main body films 2, 3 and the bottom film 4.Incidentally, a cutaway (omitted from the drawings) may be formed from apunch hole or the like in a part of the bottom film 4 such that one mainbody film 2 is directly heat sealed to the other main body film 3through this cutaway.

The film which is used for the main body films 2, 3 and the bottom film4 may be a conventionally used material such as a laminate structurewherein a base film made from biaxially elongated polypropylene,biaxially elongating polyamide, or biaxially elongated polyester or thelike is laminated by a sealant layer made from a polyolefin resin suchas low density polyethylene, straight chain low density polyethylene,ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, or polypropylene or the like. In thiscase, multiple layers of base film may be laminated in order to increasethe strength of the packaging bag. Alternatively, in order to increasethe barrier properties against gases and ultraviolet light, metallicfoil such as aluminum foil, an inorganic vapor deposition layer such asceramic, or an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer film or the like mayalso be laminated. Furthermore, if a uniaxially elongated polyolefin ornylon film or the like is used or if an easily tearing nylon filmobtained by elongating a resin film into which an aromatic nylon such as6 nylon or MXD6 has been blended is used in order to increase the easeof tearing in the a horizontal direction of the packaging bag, easilytearing properties can be obtained, and this is preferable.

As shown in FIG. 1( a), a pour spout 10 is established in the top of thepackaging bag 1. In this embodiment, the pour spout 10 is established inthe corner 1 c between the top side 1 a of the packaging bag 1 and oneside edge seal region 5 a (left side in FIG. 1( a)). On the side of thetop side 1 a of the packaging bag 1 where the pour spout 10 is locatedin the corner 1 c, the main body films 2, 3 are heat sealed together bya top seal region 7 which extends from one side edge seal region 5 a.Furthermore, the region between the top seal region 7 and the other sideedge seal region 5 b is left open as a filling port 8, and the contentcan be filled into the packaging bag 1 through the filling port 8.

Incidentally, after filling with the content, the main body films 2, 3are heat sealed together along the edge of the filling port 8, and thefilling port 8 is sealed shut by forming a filling port seal region 8 aalong the top side 1 a of the packaging bag 1 (Refer to FIG. 3).

The unsealed region between both seal regions 5 a, 7 forms the flow path11 for the pour spout 10. In other words, the flow path 11 ispartitioned off by one side edge seal region 5 a and the top seal region7. The flow path 11 extends in an upward angled direction (left upwarddirection in FIG. 1( a)) of the packaging bag 1 from the inside regionof the packaging bag 1 toward the corner 1 c.

A tube 12 is attached between the main body films 2, 3 in the flow path11 of the pour spout 10. The tube may be formed from a material which isa synthetic resin such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polyamide,polyester, polystyrene, or polycarbonate or the like, but polyolefinresins such as polyethylene or polypropylene are preferable in order tothermally adhere by heat sealing to the sealant layer on the insidesurface of the main body films 2, 3. As shown in FIG. 1( b), the mainbody films 2, 3 have an expanded region 13 which swells out in the areaaround the tube 12. This expanded region 13 is preferably formedbeforehand (prior to inserting the tube 12) in the main body films 2, 3by vacuum forming or compressed air forming during the process ofmanufacturing the packaging bag 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, an opening guide line 14 which guides the opening ina direction which intersects with the flow path 11 of the pour spout 10is formed in the top seal region 7. The starting region 14 a of theopening guide line 14 which is formed in the top seal region 7 isestablished in the top side 1 a of the packaging bag 1, and the startingregion 14 a preferably has a cutaway or V shape notch, and the anglewith the top side is preferably rounded. With this type of construction,inadvertent opening when a filled packaging bag contacts another objectcan effectively be prevented.

The opening guide line 14 has a vertical region 14 c which extendsperpendicular to the op side 1 a from the starting region 14 a, changesdirection at a bend region 14 d at the bottom of he vertical region 14c, has a angle region 14 e which extends at an upward angle along theflow path, again changes direction from the angled region 14 e at acurved region 14 f, and has an end region 14 g which extends parallel tothe bottom side 1 b of the packaging bag 1 toward the outside of thepackaging bag 1.

For the case of the packaging bag 1 of this embodiment, the region fromthe vertical region 14 c along the angled region 14 e to the end region14 g has cuts (penetrating marks) which pass through the two sheets ofmain body films 2, 3 made using a Thompson blade for instance.Furthermore, both sides of the vertical region 14 c are connected by aremaining uncut region 14 b between the vertical region 14 c and thestarting region 14 a. A cutaway in the starting region 14 a and thepenetrating marks of the vertical region 14 c and the like arepreferably formed simultaneously in order to prevent shifting positionswith regards to each other.

The width of the uncut region 14 b is dependent on the material of themain body films 2, 3, but for instance is between approximately 0.5 and1.5 mm. Incidentally, uncut regions 14 b may be formed in a plurality oflocations along the opening guide line 14 if necessary.

The whole opening guide line 14 from the starting point 14 a to the endregion 14 g is formed in the top seal region 7 and is not extended tothe unsealed region which forms the flow path 11 of the pour spout 10,so the strength of the main body films 2, 3 which cover the pour spout10 will not be weakened, and tearing of the main body films 2, 3 can besuppressed. Furthermore, by tearing the uncut region 14 b, the region 15enclosed by the vertical region 14 c and the angle region 14 e may bepulled out from the top seal region 7 and can be used as a holding tabwhen opening the packaging bag. By using this tab 15, the tearing forceof the hand can be sufficiently transferred to the main body films 2, 3when starting to tear the pour spout 10 from the end region 14 g.

Furthermore, a plurality of cut lines 16 which pass through the two mainbody films 2, 3 are established in a line in the direction along theflow path 11 at a location corresponding to the ending region 14 g ofthe opening guide line 14, transacting the flow path 11 of the pourspout 10 in one side edge seal region 5 a.

These cut lines 16 are I shaped notches which extend in the samedirection as the ending region 14 g (parallel to the bottom side 1 b ofthe packaging bag 1 in this embodiment), and a tear line which isstarted by tearing from the ending region 14 g is easily connected withthe cut lines 16. These cut lines 16, 16, can be formed using a toolsuch as a Thomson blade.

The length of the cut lines 16 is for instance between 0.5 and 2 mm. Theinterval between adjacent cut lines 16 is for instance between 2 and 4mm. The number of cut lines 16 is two or more, but having three or morecut lines is more preferable.

When the packaging bag 1 of the present embodiment is to be opened,first the uncut region 14 b is cut and a tab 15 enclosed by the verticalregion 14 c and the angled region 14 e is formed in the top seal region7, and this tab 15 is grasped and tearing is started from the endingregion 14 g of the opening guide line 14.

As shown in FIG. 3( a), even if the tear line 2 a formed in one mainbody film 2 and the tear line 3 a formed in the other main body film 3become shifted and are not mutually aligned partway through tearing thepour spout 10 (“staggered tearing”), each of the tear lines 2 a, 3 awill be able to reach one of the plurality of cut lines 16, 16, whichare formed in the seal region 5 a of the opening region 17. Each of thecut lines 16, 16, extend in the same direction as the ending region 14 gof the opening guide line 14, so both of the tear lines 2 a, 3 a can beextended by continuing to apply the tearing force by hand.

The cut lines 16 pass through the two films 2, 3 so the region betweenboth films 2, 3 can easily be separated between the cut line 16 which isin contact with the tear line 2 a of one main body film 2 and the cutline 16 which is in contact with the tear line 3 a of the other mainbody film. Therefore, the seal region 5 a at the ending side of the tearlines 2 a, 3 a can easily be torn, and as shown in FIG. 3( b), theleading end 10 a of the pour spout 10 can positively be removed. In thismanner, the leading end 10 a of the pour spout 10 can easily andpositively be removed by tearing by hand, so the opening region 17 canbe inserted into the pour spout of the main container (not shown in thedrawings) without interference, and the contents can efficiently betransferred from the packaging bag 1 to the main container.

The present invention was described above based on a preferredembodiment, but the present invention is not to restricted to theaforementioned embodiment, and various modifications are possible solong as the essence of the present invention is not violated. Forinstance, the location where the pour spout is established in thepresent invention is not restricted to the corner of the packaging bag,and can also be established in the center region of the top side of thepackaging bag. Furthermore, the pour spout may have a shape where theleading end protrudes from the top side of the packaging bag.

Preferred Embodiments

A packaging bag 1 with pour spout of the form shown in FIG. 1 wasmanufactured by the following procedures.

A three layer film made from a laminate material (biaxially elongatedpolyethylene terephthalate film/easily tearing nylon film obtained byelongating a mixed resin film of 6 nylon and MDX 6 nylon/straight chainlow density polyethylene layer (sealant layer)) was used for the mainbody films 2, 3, and a two layer film made from a laminate material(biaxially elongated nylon/straight chain low density polyethylene layer(sealant layer)) was used for the bottom film 4.

First, an expanded region 13 was formed in a predetermined location ofthe main body films 2, 3 using compressed air forming or vacuum forming,and a cylindrical tube 12 was inserted into this expanded region 13 andwas bonded by heat sealing. Next, the main body films 2, 3 werepositioned so that the sealant layers were facing each other, and thebottom film 4, which had been folded in half so that the sealant layerforms the outside surface, was inserted between the main body films 2,3. The main body films 2, 3 were heat sealed to the bottom film 4 toform a bottom heat seal region 6, and the side edge seal regions 5 a, 5b and the top seal region 7 were formed so as to partition off the flowpath 11 in one of the top corner regions 1 c of the packaging bag 1.

Next, the opening guide line 14 was formed in the top seal region 7 anda plurality of cut lines 16, 16, were formed in one side edge sealregion 5 a by punching with a Thomson blade, in order to complete thepackaging bag 1 with pour spout.

In the present embodiment, the length of the cut lines 16 was 1 mm, theinterval between adjacent cut lines 16 was 3 mm, and five cut lines wereformed.

After the packaging bag 1 with pour spout was filled with contentthrough the fill port 8, a fill port seal region 8 a was formed by heatsealing in order to seal of the packaging bag 1 with pour spout, to makea packaging bag filled with content (packaged product).

When using the filled packaged product, the uncut region 14 b of theopening guide, line 14 is first cut and tab 15 is pulled out from thetop seal region 7, and then holding this tab 15, tearing is started fromthe end region 14 g of the opening guide line 14.

With the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3( a), the tear line 2 aformed in one main body film 2 and the tear line 3 a formed in the othermain body film 3 became staggered and were not mutually aligned(“staggered tearing”) part way through tearing the pour spout 10, andthe space between both tear lines 2 a, 3 a increased to approximately 9mm in the vertical direction of the packaging bag 1. Regardless, bothtear lines 2 a, 3 a extended to transect one side edge seal region 5 aby reaching any one of the cut lines 16, 16, and therefore the leadingend 10 a of the pour spout 10 could be completely removed.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3( b), even though one main body film 2was approximately 9 mm longer than the other main body film 3 in the endregion of the side edge seal region 5 a of the opening region 17, whenthe pour spout 10 was inserted into the pour spout of the empty maincontainer and powder detergent was transferred, all of the powderdetergent which had been filled into the packaging bag 1 with pour spoutcould be transferred over to the main container without spilling outsideof the main container.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION

The present invention can be used for storing and packaging products ina variety of industrial fields, and for instance is preferably used as apackaging bag with pour spout for storing contents for refilling (suchas powders or liquids, and specifically detergent or fabric softener orthe like).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1( a) is a front view showing an embodiment of the packaging bagwith pour spout of the present invention, and (b) is a longitudinalcross section view along line A-A in FIG. 1( a);

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged front view showing the area around the pourspout of the packaging bag with pour spout of the present invention; and

FIG. 3( a) is a partial enlarged perspective view of an example of acondition where staggered tearing has occurred part way through openingof the packaging bag with pour spout shown in FIG. 1, and (b) is apartial enlarged perspective view showing an example of the conditionwhere the pour spout was completely opened after the condition of (a).

DESCRIPTION OF CODES

-   1—packaging bag with pour spout-   1 a—top side-   1 b—bottom side-   1 c—corner-   2, 3—main body film-   5 a—one side edge seal region-   7—top seal region-   10—pour spout-   11—flow path-   12—tube-   14—opening guide line-   14 e—opening guide line angled region-   14 f—opening guide line curved region-   14 g—opening guide line ending region-   16—cut lines

The dimensions and values disclosed herein are not to be understood asbeing strictly limited to the exact numerical values recited. Instead,unless otherwise specified, each such dimension is intended to mean boththe recited value and a functionally equivalent range surrounding thatvalue. For example, a dimension disclosed as “40 mm” is intended to mean“about 40 mm.”

All documents cited in the Detailed Description of the Invention are, inrelevant part, incorporated herein by reference; the citation of anydocument is not to be construed as an admission that it is prior artwith respect to the present invention. To the extent that any meaning ordefinition of a term in this document conflicts with any meaning ordefinition of the same term in a document incorporated by reference, themeaning or definition assigned to that term in this document shallgovern.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have beenillustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in theart that various other changes and modifications can be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is thereforeintended to cover in the appended claims all such changes andmodifications that are within the scope of this invention.

1. A packaging bag with pour spout wherein a flow path in a pour spoutestablished in the top of a packaging bag is partitioned off by sealedregions made by sealing two films, a tube is attached inside of the flowpath of the pour spout, an opening guide line which guides an opening ina direction which intersects with the flow path of the pour spout isformed in one of the side seal regions of the pour spout, and the sealregion on the other side which is opposite to the side of the pour spouthas a plurality of cut lines which pass through the seal region of thetwo films and are positioned in line in relation to the ending region ofthe opening guide line.
 2. The packaging bag with pour spout accordingto claim 1, wherein the pour spout is formed in the corner region of thepackaging bag, the flow path of the pour spout angles toward the top ofthe packaging bag, the opening guide line begins from the top side ofthe packaging bag, the opening guide line extends at an upward anglealong the flow path, then changes direction in a curved region, and theending region of the opening guide line extends parallel to the bottomside of the packaging bag toward the outside of the packaging bag. 3.The packaging bag with pour spout according to claim 1, wherein the cutlines are cut by a Thomson blade.